Our education programs have reached more than 50,000 people since 1980.
Pre - Conference Events
January 19th, 20th, 21st
Professional Development Training for Accredited Certifiers and State Organic Programs
Monday & Tuesday, Jan. 19 & 20 all day
Healthy Farms, Healthy People: Organics in Action
Canceled due to lack of registration.
Farm Bus Tour
Wednesday, Jan. 21 all day
School Garden Tour
Wednesday, Jan. 21 all day
How to Facilitate Effective Meetings
Moved to Friday 8:30 am - 12:00pm
Farm Educators Get Together
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 4 pm to 6 pm
Download Pre-Conference Registration Forms Here
Professional Development Training for Accredited Certifiers and State Organic Programs
The Accredited Certifiers Association (ACA) and the National Association of State Organic Programs (NASOP) will be hosting a Professional Development Training for Accredited Certifiers and State Organic Programs on January 19 & 20,2009, prior to the Eco-Farm Conference. For registration information contact Patricia Kane, ACA Coordinator, at 607.648.3259, or .
Healthy Farms, Healthy People: Organics in Action
Canceled due to lack of registration.
Bus Tour 2009: Organic Farming in the Pajaro Valley
Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
This all-day field trip will visit four organic and sustainable farms in the fertile Pajaro Valley near Watsonville. This area of cool, foggy summers, sunny springs and falls, and mild wet winters features a great range of crops suited to the climate and fertile coastal soils.
Tour stops include:
- Vision Farms, where Chabba and Roberto Vasquez produce raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries marketed through Driscoll.
- The Garrone family will host a mushroom tour at their organic Far West Fungi farm.
- Scott Fulton and Alberto Arroyo of B & H Flowers produce a wide variety of flowers using sustainable agriculture methods including biological control of insects.
- Greg Rawlings and Patrick DeYoung of Blue Moon Organics farm 34 acres of a wide mix of vegetables, strawberries and blackberries in a beautiful locale.
Amigo Cantisano of Organic Ag Advisors, Sam Earnshaw of CAFF, and Richard Smith of UC Cooperative Extension lead the tour. Lunch will be a hearty natural foods meal prepared from organically grown and local ingredients by noted chef Jim Denevan, of Outstanding In The Field in Santa Cruz. Morning coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided. Every year the bus tour is a sellout, usually by the early registration deadline. Sign up on the registration form or call (831) 763-2111 for further details. Please note that the bus tour departs from Asilomar. We have rooms available for those needing accommodations at Asilomar on the night before the tour (Tuesday the 20th). Or contact the office for a list of other motels in the area.
Don’t wait - this sells out early. All aboard!
Eco-Farm School Garden Bus Tour
Tour departs from and returns to Asilomar on Wednesday, January 21, 8 am – 5 pm
The Santa Cruz area is home to some of the most impressive school garden programs in California. This year’s School Gardens Tour will highlight the garden that started the school garden movement in Santa Cruz, aptly named Green Acres Elementary. Green Acres and the garden-based learning organization Life Lab Science Program are celebrating 30 years of connecting kids to the garden!
At Pacific School, a few miles up the coast from Santa Cruz, we will visit another well established Life Lab Program and their Food Lab. Students from the Food Lab plan and cook the school meal every day. During our visit, the Food Lab Program will be serving up our lunch! We will also be sharing garden-based learning resources and visiting their Life Lab Garden. We’ll end the tour at a school with two gardens on their campus. Bonny Doon Elementary is nestled in the redwoods of a mountain community. They have made the most of their space and recently installed a solar-powered fountain.
The tour will be lead by John Fisher, of Life Lab Science Program. John directs the California Department of Education’s Monterey Bay Area Garden Resource Center and brings much enthusiasm and a desire to share his experiences with others involved in garden-based education. Community Alliance with Family Farmers Farm to School Program staff will also be along for the ride and will share insight and resources of the California Farm to School Movement.
How to Facilitate Effective Meetings
Moved to Friday 8:30 am - 12:00pm
Is your business or nonprofit organization hampered by ineffective meetings or by organizational decision-making structures that leave employees and management burnt and frustrated? Cultivating effective decision-making processes usually results in a more efficient and happy workplace. This workshop will give you practical tools to create more effective and participatory meetings in your farm business, nonprofit group, advocacy organization, or community. Topics covered will include planning for and running effective meetings, facilitation skills, agenda management, and conflict resolution.
Presenters: Dave Henson and Adam Wolpert are two co-founders of the 15 year-old Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC) and the Sowing Circle Intentional Community. They each have led facilitation and organizational development workshops for over 20 years, and they co-teach OAEC’s “Starting and Sustaining Intentional Communities” workshops.
Farm Educators Get Together
Wednesday, January 21, 4pm - 6pm
Do you run an educational program on a farm? Meet with other farmer educators and share resources, teaching strategies, curriculum and ideas for fun, manageable education programs. This meeting is designed to foster conversation-- there will be plenty of time for open dialogue and networking. Join us for appetizers, too! Facilitated discussion with Ildi Carlyle Cummings, Community Alliance with Family Farmers Farm to School Program, Watsonville, CA. Please RSVP by .
© 2008 Ecological Farming Association
406 Main Street, Suite 313, Watsonville, CA 95076
Phone: (831) 763-2111
